Moments of Impact

How to design strategic conversations that accelerate change

In our fast-changing world, leaders are confronted by messy, multifaceted challenges and opportunities that require collaboration to resolve. A long-successful business model slides into decline. A disruptive new technology arrives on the scene. Exciting new markets show promise for growth. But the standard methods for tackling these and other important issues—meetings full of data-drenched presentations, or brain-storming sessions that circle back to nowhere—often fail to deliver.

"This is a guide every frustrated meeting-goer should read, with advice they should all implement."Publishers Weekly

About the book

By contrast, great strategic conversations can generate breakthrough insights by combining the best ideas of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. They can lift participants above the fray of daily concerns and narrow self-interest, reconnecting them to their greater, collective purpose. And they can create deep, lasting impacts that propel organizations forward.

The art of sparking creative collaboration around high-stakes challenges is a critical leadership skill for our times. Yet it's one that doesn't get enough attention in many organizations.

Co-authored by Deloitte Consulting LLP's Chris Ertel, Moments of Impact helps to "crack the code" on what it takes to design strategic conversations that soar rather than sink. Drawing on decades of experience— and supported by leading-edge social science research, dozens of real-life examples, and interviews with well over 100 thought leaders, executives, and practitioners —Moments of Impact unveils a simple, creative process that leaders and their teams can use to craft solutions to their most vexing issues.

The book also includes a 60-page "Starter Kit" packed with tools and tips for putting the book's core principles into practice—today.

Who needs a "strategic conversation"?

A strategic conversation is not just about classic "strategy" topics, such as differentiation and competitive positioning. A strategic conversation is called for anytime you need creative collaboration to get to breakthrough solutions on an important challenge—and know that the usual ways of bringing people together won't get you there.

For example:

a finance team transforming their close process to produce forward-looking business insights

a product development unit looking for the next big thing for their customers

a CIO charged with creating a new IT architecture to respond to a changing environment

a marketing group that wants to experiment with crowdsourcing without putting the brand at risk

a business unit leader trying to sort out which acquisition(s) to make in a bustling field of startup activity

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